WATERFOWL 239 



disinfectant, rinse the tank before refilling. Properly- 

 constructed the tank will last a long time. 



The breeding ducks keep clean and do better if 

 they can have water to swim in. The eggs are more 

 fertile, for they copulate in the water. Where no pond 

 or stream is at hand a small pool can easily be made 

 for them. Dig a square hole eight inches deep and as 

 large as desired. Put eight-inch boards around the 

 sides. Now tamp down the bottom hard and level, 

 and coat the surface with an inch of cement, bringing 

 the coating up to the top of the boards at the sides, 

 of the same thickness as the bottom. Drive shingle 

 nails thickly into the boards to give the cemerit some- 

 thing to cling to. In the same way a pool for a "water 

 g-arden" can be made for the growing of aquatic, 

 plants. Keep this filled and clean out frequently, for 

 it is quickly fouled. 

 I 



CARE OF YOUNG DUCKS 



The ducklings are left for twenty-four to thirty- 

 six hours in the incubator to dry ofif and get upon 

 their feet, during which time they receive no food or 

 water. Then they go to the brooder houses, which in 

 large establishments are heated with hot water pipes. 

 The pens are three or four feet wide by ten feet long, 

 with a passageway along the back, and each pen holds 

 from seventy-five to 150 ducklings. Here the duck- 

 lings receive their first meal, which is the same as the 

 regular rations which they are to receive afterward, 

 viz, a mash of two-thirds bran and one-third corn 

 meal, mixed with cold water or skimmilk. Ducks 

 intended for market are not fed green stuff and an 

 exclusive grain diet seems to give a firmer flesh. 

 After the first four days the feed consists of corn 

 meal and bran in equal parts and about one pound in 



